The Garden State of Mind
by influenceONchildren
Summary: Jlaire Week 2018, Day 2 - Monsters Whoever said road trips were fun should shove it up their, er, face-hole! (That's totally an insult, yes?)


**Author stuff: This was originally posted on Ao3 for Jlaire Week. Day 1 is already posted ( _Shakespeare and Musicals_ , it's a comedy).**

 **Anyway, every time I typed 'monsters', 'mobsters' would pop up its ugly head. Also? The Jersey Devil? Can't get enough. And? It's a changeling. No one can convince me otherwise.**

 **Jlaire Week, Day 2 - Monsters**

* * *

 **The Garden State of Mind**

The Pine Barrens in the middle of the Garden State were as dark and bleak as her opportunities of getting out of the forests alive. Which, ultimately, meant that she couldn't see jack squat in front of her. She was entirely dependent on Jim.

Less than thirty minutes after the sun had gone down, she and the others figured that it would be best for her safety to be carried. Originally, _**Merlin**_ had demanded that Jim carry him, but somehow he'd been talked out of it. (Claire wasn't sure where he was now, just that she wasn't near him.)

She was fairly certain that NotEnrique had been behind it.

This little act had allowed Jim to carry her instead – something she was relishing in, despite the fact he was wearing his armor. While he might have her piggybacking, it was nice to be close to him. They really hadn't had a whole lot of privacy since the journey began but it was nice to pretend.

She just wish she didn't feel so… _**blind**_.

A part of her wondered if this was what someone who was visually impaired felt like. None of her other senses were heightened, and she had to focus her energy to depend on them rather than her eyes. She spent most of her time straining her ears for any sounds out of the ordinary, which was obscenely difficult seeing as how there was a massive group of trolls all around her.

(At least, she thought they were. Again, she couldn't really see them to be able to tell.)

And she spent the time practicing some of the magic Merlin was teaching her. Most of her lessons had been based on darkness. She had an affinity towards it, something she knew made her teacher uneasy. Morgana had had an affinity towards the darkness as well. She didn't dwell on that too much.

Merlin had also been teaching her to feel others. With her mind. He was teaching her how to read the energies people gave off and how to use that to her advantage. She knew a few of the others.

She, herself, bore a purplish-pink hue. Magenta, she thought. It suited her.

NotEnrique was a muddied green-ish brown that was earthy and calming and irritating all at once, just like her weird not-little-brother.

Merlin himself was an acidic green that sort of… eroded others away when he was near them. She assumed it was because of the amount of power he'd once held.

Blinky was a sunshine yellow. Easily visibly and guiding. She could practically see him lead the way, if she closed her eyes and focused.

A few of the others she had familiarized with and knew them as friendly. They were reds and greens and oranges and yellows and purples.

And then there was Jim. She was most familiar with his. It was almost always a calming sky blue, clear as daybreak on a fine summer morning. It left her feeling safe and calm and refreshed. Their colors would meld from time to time, leaving her more purple and him more pink. Like the sky during sunrise or sunset, very early or late in the day.

It was pretty to watch.

She was so used to being around so many different types of energies she almost didn't see or feel or whatever the new one – the one lurking just beyond the… She thought it was a cliff, though she wasn't absolutely sure. She only knew it was there.

She leaned a little close to Jim's ear, lips practically kissing the pointed lobe.

"Jim?" she said, blinking as she once again tried to fight away the mind-numbing blackness.

"Yeah," he said, just as quietly. "I know. I've sensed them for a while. I've let a few others know. Be prepared to fight."

Which was going to be difficult because, one, no weapon and, two, she couldn't see. She was bound to run into a tree and hurt herself.

"There's more?" She winced at how her voice hitched. She now strained to feel more. And, yes, there they were. She fought to keep her breathing even.

She felt his hands squeeze her thighs reassuringly, his thumb rubbing against the fabric of her newly acquired jeans.

"It'll be okay," he said, his voice still quiet so only she could hear him. He was trying to keep his tone light and airy, but she could hear the strain tugging at the words. "We've been through worse before."

She gripped his shoulders a little tighter, willing her palms not to sweat. She decided to keep watch on whatever was watching them – willing whoever they were to attack or… something. They kept pace with the traveling group, staying far enough away not to be picked up most the trolls but close enough to keep them in sight.

And then the trilling started. It was soft at first, only one of them. The others soon followed. The sound rang out, reverberating in her mind as none of them followed any distinct pattern. It was made all the worse with the numbing darkness still trapping her.

Jim was saying something, she could hear his tenor through her chest. His hands were letting her slip down. She gave a cry of surprise.

Her legs practically buckled underneath her, and she leaned against Jim. He was there, comforting and sky blue as always, but he was starting to slip away.

Trollhunter duties.

She understood. She understood perfectly. But his job wasn't _**just**_ to protect the trolls – who could very much see in the dark – it was also to protect humans. And she was, as far as she was aware, very human and very vulnerable.

This was _**not**_ how she'd imagined this trip would go.

She took a few slow breaths, steadying her breathing, mind, and legs. She had this. She totally had this. She might be down a sense, but she had her others to rely on. This was… a piece of cake baked by Jim's mom.

Claire was shoved roughly into a tree. She felt her hands and cheek scrape against the bark. She gave out a hiss, the new injury leaving a tingly, burning sensation on her skin. She hoped that wasn't poison oak. (Was poison oak even native to New Jersey?)

She hugged close to the tree.

There were flashes of light – Jim wielding _Eclipse_. They sent black spots dancing across her vision.

A part of her wanted to scramble to his side, to fight alongside him. That was the illogical part. The intelligent part of her, that warned her off, reminded her that she had nothing to defend herself with.

So find a weapon, the illogical part said.

She lowered herself to the ground, hands brushing dry leaves and twigs and kindling before finding something coarse and hefty. She smiled and grabbed it.

It… wasn't a branch. It was attached to something, something very much alive and could scream at her.

She was forced back into the tree, head knocking the bark sharply.

She felt hot breath lick her face and something sniffed at her.

"A human?" the being said. There was a baffled tone to its steel-cut voice. It was above her somewhere, close but not too close.

The next instant, the being was thrown off her by… she couldn't quite tell.

"Hey, sis, are you alright?"

NotEnrique.

"Fine," she said, looking up to where she thought his face was. She might have been off, by quite a bit. "Just a little banged up."

"Claire!"

Jim was by her side instantly. She could see the red light _Eclipse_ emanated, but nothing beyond that. But it didn't really matter. She was pulled into him and the world vanished to her senses again. Not that she particularly minded. He was a rock in this dark, unsteady world.

"You're bleeding," Jim said into her ear.

"I'll be alright."

"What are you?" Blinky said to the creature who attacked her.

"Yeah, who do you think you are?" NotEnrique said.

"This is our land," the creature said – not the one who'd slammed her into the tree, another one said, off to their left.

There were fifteen total, from what she was able to pick up. There were others nearby who hadn't attacked.

"You're trespassers," another said from her right.

"And what is that _**thing**_ holding onto the human?" a voice from behind her said.

"My name is James Lake, Jr.," Jim said.

"He's the Trollhunter," Blinky said, as though it were the most obvious answer.

"Yes," said the one the left, "we picked up on that. But _**what**_ is it?"

"He's _**cursed**_ ," said the one behind her. "Can't you tell. The old fleshbag finger wiggler."

"I'd hardly call it a curse," Merlin said curtly. "And I don't appreciate being called a 'finger wiggler', thank you very much."

"Oh?" said the one of the right. "What would you call it then?"

"Jim gave up being completely human," Claire said, gently pushing him away so she could turn around, "to defeat Gunmar."

There was a murmuring from the attackers. Claire listened to them speak the trollish language with an odd lilt to their voices. It was the only thing other that _Eclipse_ slowly rising and dipping as Jim breathed.

"And how can we trust you human?" said the one on the right. "Humans are known to lie as easily as they breathe."

Jim's fingers dug into her hip as he pulled her close once again.

"She's a finger wiggler," said the one now in front of her. "She's cursed too. She can't tell a lie. Don't you smell it on her?"

"Enough of this," Merlin said. "Who are you and why did you attack us?"

"You are trespassers," said one somewhere behind her.

"The Heartstone in the West has died," Blinky said, "or can't you feel it?"

They murmured again.

"Are you," the one to her left said, considering his words, "the only survivors?"

"We have a few friends back home," Jim said. "They're guarding the town."

"So, you are looking for a place to live, then."

"I'm afraid we can't allow that."

Before she could comprehend anything, she was forced away from Jim and lost somewhere in the darkness once more.

The sounds of battle was everywhere around her. The fifteen creatures shouldn't have been able to hold them off, and yet they were managing to do it just fine.

She tried several times to get to her feet, failing each time. She _**really**_ wished she could see something. Anything.

She felt a tug in her abdomen, something that seemed to suck her breath down to her pelvic bone and hold it there. She had felt it once or twice before during her magic lessons, but it had never been this strong.

What was it Merlin had said? A good portion of magic was intuition? No, that didn't sound right…

She wished to see again, this time allowing to tug to take her breath. Her hands started to tingle.

And she was shoved smartly into someone.

"Oi!" said the familiar voice of NotEnrique. She was relieved it was him. "Watch where you – Claire? What's up with your face?"

"What's wrong with my face?" she said, consciously touching her cheek. Other than being scraped, she couldn't think of what it looked like.

"Nothing." The answer was too quick.

She didn't get a chance to ask him again. She was pushed onto him from behind.

 _ **See**_.

The tugging came back, channeling down at her pelvis, leaving her hands tingling as they flew upwards.

Light exploded up into the branches. The color of her – the purplish-pink that she'd come to recognize as her own energy. It frightened everyone present.

She got a good look of the creatures. They were… unusual. She couldn't tell what color their skin was, put in her light it was pale and sickly looking. Their eyes were bulbous, set against square heads with horns that curled along their cheekbones, ending just short of a terrifying beak. Bat-like wings curled around their lithe forms, obscuring her view of their arms. She got a good look of their legs – shaggy and covered in fur, ending in cloven hooves.

"Take us," she said, licking her dry lips and tasting copper, "to the Heartstone, or face the wrath of the ones who banished Morgana into the Shadow Realm and defeated Gunmar the Black."

The creatures did as they were told.


End file.
